WATCH: Joseph Ossai explains season-ending mistake following AFC title loss
Joseph Ossai was dominating the game against the Kansas City Chiefs for the Cincinnati Bengals during the AFC Championship Game. However, the former Texas star made all the wrong headlines after the game.
A momentary lapse in judgement by Ossai — pushing Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes while he was out of bounds — led to a 15-yard personal foul penalty, followed by a game-winning field goal by Kansas City.
Afterwards, Ossai faced the media and didn’t shy away from the tough questions, explaining that his teammates have lifted him up and stood by his side during one of the most demoralizing moments of his career.
“Means the world to me. These guys mean a lot to me. We come every day, we work hard for each other,” Ossai stated, via Mike Giardi of NFL Network. “To know that they have my back is extremely — it’s giving me peace right now, for sure.”
Alas, Cincinnati knows how important Ossai is to their operation, and he’ll have more opportunities during the post-season in his career. Regardless, Sunday’s moment will sting for awhile.
The Bengals will be back, and Joseph Ossai will be as motivated as ever, but watching the Chiefs in the Super Bowl will hurt their soul.
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Continuing, Bengals defensive end Cam Sample came over to console Joseph Ossai on the bench, as he was sobbing in tears after the game. Ossai finished with five tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass deflection, and two quarterback hits.
He was very active for most of the evening, and you heard his name called by the CBS Sports announcers several times throughout the game.
It’s a tough way for the Bengals’ season to end, but Sunday’s game was yet another classic AFC Championship matchup.
With all the weapons on their roster, they’ll likely be back soon, but they’ll have to figure out the different contracts for their stars, including Joe Burrow, who won’t be cheap. Managing the different contracts looms large for the Bengals’ franchise in the near future.
On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this article.